People walk down Penny Street, a pedestrianised shopping thoroughfare in Lancaster.
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

With two universities and two strongly performing grammar schools, an arthouse cinema and a theatre, the Georgian city of Lancaster is one of the more affluent areas of the north-west of England.

It is a thriving and popular place to live, and students make up about 15% of the 141,000 residents of the district, which includes the poorer seaside towns of Heysham and Morecambe, and the town of Carnforth, near the Cumbrian border.

It is these smaller, more deprived areas that probably account for the relatively low average pre-tax personal income of £22,300, £5,100 below the national average, as well as the district voting for Brexit. Lancaster voted 51.1% in favour of leaving the EU, surprising many on the Labour-run city council, which includes eight Green party councillors. Unemployment is about the same as the UK average, with 1.8% of the population claiming out-of-work benefits, compared with 1.9% nationally.

The town centres of many leave-voting areas of the north of England can be a depressing sight, dominated by pawn shops, charity shops, takeaways and bookies. But with a healthy mix of independent shops and most of the major chain stores, Lancaster’s city centre has weathered the recession and the rise of internet retail better than most. Penny Street is one of the main pedestrianised shopping zones, with three bank branches, several pubs and cafes, an M&S and a McDonald’s.

The Guardian asked local shoppers and traders what they wanted from Philip Hammond’s first autumn statement, and what they thought of the measures he announced.

Jahid Patel, owner of Sneaks menswear

Shop owner Jahid Patel says he expects US brands such as Nike to be cost more to buy from next year. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

I’ve had a menswear shop in various locations across Lancaster for 10 years and I’ll tell you what’s a killer: business rates. Philip Hammond didn’t really say anything about that. I now pay £12,300 a year for this shop, and that’s before I pay the rent, the electric, wages.

It’s all right for the big boys, your Costa Coffees and the like – they have hundreds of branches and can benefit from economies of scale. But for an independent business trying to operate on the high street, it is really difficult. We are competing with online businesses who don’t have to pay business rates. I think a lot more people would give starting a business a go if they were lower. I’d like to see VAT cut, too. He’s giving £1bn for broadband, but my broadband is fine.

I wish people would realise that business owners like me aren’t loaded. If they keep buying online rather than shopping locally, we won’t be here in six months, the high street will die and they’ll have to go to Preston or Manchester to do their shopping.

I voted to stay in the EU. I think we need to be able to trade with the EU. I haven’t seen a knock-on effect from Brexit yet, but it will come. A lot of our brands, such as Nike, are US companies, and I am expecting it to cost more to buy from them next year.

Malcolm Willis, 75, retired musician from Morecambe

Malcolm Willis says it is important to get rid of Britain’s deficit and wants to leave the EU immediately. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

I’m officially retired, but I can’t afford to run my house on my pensions, I get the basic state pension and a small private one, so I still work. People say, ‘you’re 75, you shouldn’t have to work’, but I’m fit and I can, so I do a bit of dealing in musical instruments and building for local pensioners.

I don’t mind that there wasn’t really anything in the autumn statement for pensioners. We get plenty. Of course, if someone offered me an extra £50 a month, I wouldn’t turn it down, but we get enough. People in this country want too much. My wife has worked as a missionary in Africa and there were ministers there with no shoes on their feet. People here don’t realise how wealthy they are.

I’d say I’m a radical person. I think Trump is the best thing that ever happened and I think we should get out of Europe as quickly as possible. Thank God that Theresa May appears to be a Christian and another Margaret Thatcher. But I do think it is important to get rid of the deficit. We need to get out of the red and into the black, and I am prepared to do my share of watching the pennies to get there.

Kinsey Aikman, 22, co-owner of Town House gallery

Kinsey Aikman rents off his dad and says letting agency fees put him off private rental accommodation. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The autumn statement wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. The bit about building new homes sounds good. In Lancaster they have been building houses, but they are mostly luxury apartments on the quayside. They’re mostly high end and out of my budget.

I rent, but off my dad. One of the things that put me off renting privately was the fees the letting agents charge, plus the fact they wanted three months’ rent upfront. So I think getting rid of letting agency fees is a good thing.

The more money people have in their pockets, the better for businesses such as ours. We need people to have disposable income if they are going to treat themselves to art and luxury items.

I don’t really mind that they have given up on running a surplus by 2020. It’s just fictional money to me. It doesn’t make a difference for real people, unless it leads to another recession.

Lynne Whitworth, branch manager at Skipton Building Society

Lynne Whitworth says customers are unhappy about low interest rates compared with the 1990s. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

Most of our clients are in the older age range and what they complain about most is interest rates. They remember the good old 90s, when mortgage rates were at 15% and so was interest on savings. Like all the other banks and building societies, we have cut our interest rates. The best rate we offer is 1.25% on the five-year Isa. They are not happy about that at all, but then again, I don’t really see what the government can do about interest rates.

What we are seeing is customers coming in and using their savings to make lump sum reductions on their mortgages or increasing their monthly payments. The older generation are doing an awful lot of gifting money away, giving to their children and grandchildren, who they fear will never get on the housing ladder without it.

Stewart Cook, area commercial manager for Yorkshire Bank

Stewart Cook says the number of loans granted to local businesses has not fallen since the Brexit vote. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

I’ve been in banking for 36 years and worked through three recessions, the last one being the worst – 2008 was tough for everybody – but there’s a lot of confidence locally. Business is vibrant. Agriculture has had a difficult time, particularly dairy farmers, but things are getting better.

It was good to see more commitments around the “northern powerhouse”. It’s a project that businesses here are really keen to get involved with. They think it’s positive for the region.

I look after small and medium businesses: companies that make widgets, who bash metal, agriculture. They will welcome the cut in corporation tax to 17%. They can use the savings to invest.

Our customers are investing in their businesses and we are helping them do that. There was a mixed reaction locally to Brexit. Exporters are seeing the biggest benefit because of the exchange rate, though there aren’t a lot of exporters in Lancaster. I think business people took a breath in the immediate aftermath of the vote, but they realise they need to invest to grow. We are helping our customers buy premises, buy machinery. We haven’t seen any drop in loans since the referendum.

Graeme MacLeod, managing director of Cumberland Estate Agents

Banning agency fees will be a bit of a body-punch for landlords who are already reeling from stamp duty hikes and diminishing tax relief over the next four years. Now they’re going to have to fund, to a degree, the application and referencing process. But it’s definitely a good thing for tenants.

I’ve seen some of the charges that have been exposed in the press. Apparently the average is £340 nationally, which is three times the average that we charge. We charge about £100 plus VAT. The industry does not have the best of reputations and when you see what some people have been charging, it does show that letting agents haven’t really been looking at tenants as customers. They’ve been looking at them as an opportunity to make money.

More housebuilding is always welcome. The supply of housing is lower than I’ve ever seen it and people are always going to want to own their own homes. Brexit might have made a slight difference to supply in the housing market and made people more reluctant to sell, but we’ve seen growth pretty much on everything. Rents, prices and mortgages. It’s all very buoyant.

Michael Thomas, 32, manager of Gingernut Cafe and Bistro

Michael Thomas wants the government to do more about the effect of VAT on smaller businesses. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

I’m disappointed there aren’t more measures for people like me. I’ve just had a baby boy and we’ve struggled to manage dealing with the loss of my partner’s income while she went on maternity leave. I’ve had to take a second job as a head chef at a new restaurant in Kendal.

I would have liked to see something done with VAT on sales. Basically it just takes away the incentive to do that bit better because as soon as you earn over the £89,000 mark you have to pay 20% on every penny that comes in. I think it should be in stages. It was a big struggle for me earlier in the year. I started opening nights and an extra day a week just to cover the VAT bill.

I’ve got no idea what effect Brexit will have on my business. In my opinion, politicians talk so much crap anyway that if you pick one over the other, is it really going to make much difference?

Dian Dzhinski, 34, manager of Just Hair salon

I came to Lancaster from Bulgaria two and half years ago and set up my business in May with help from friends. Business is going OK at the moment, but it’s early days. I would have liked to see taxes on businesses cut, but everyone would want that. Brexit has had no impact me and my business so far. I think it will make more of a difference to bigger companies.

I came here because I thought it would be easier to set up a business here than in Bulgaria, but now I’ve realised that it’s the same as everywhere else. I don’t expect to get more help from the government. I wanted a business in order to be self-sufficient.

Billy Howard, 20, free range egg supplier

Billy Howard is keen on the pledges to crack down on tax avoidance and increase housebuilding. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

I set up the business when I was 16 – I run a stall in Lancaster two days a week and supply free range eggs to local cafes and shops. Business is up at the moment. We’ve got a lot of regular customers and without them we don’t have a business.

I’m pleased about the announcement that they will be cracking down on tax avoidance schemes. We pay our taxes – why do others get away with it? Sometimes I feel that once I’ve paid my expenses, paid for the van, paid my taxes, there’s not much left.

It’s good that they’re going to build more houses. I’m saving to buy a house at the moment, but getting my deposit money together is hard and I still need a lot more. I’ve got a help to buy Isa, but that’s only going to help a bit. Me and my girlfriend would like to move to Lancaster from Bentham, in the Yorkshire Dales, and the areas we’re looking at are expensive: you’re talking £120,000 minimum.

Karen Chaplin, 57, plant stall manager

Karen Chaplin had hoped that the government might reduce VAT, which she says is killing businesses. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

I’d hoped for a reduction of VAT. It’s really killing a lot of businesses. If they could reduce that down to 17.5%, or even to increase the threshold, that would be helpful. The living wage doesn’t affect me because I always pay anybody who works for me £9 an hour. I just think you should treat people fairly and I think £9 is a more realistic living wage.

Jackie Stobbart, 55, manager of the Penny Bank pub

Jackie Stobbart believes cutting the cost of beer to pubs would generate more custom and more jobs. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

I’d have liked to see a reduction in beer prices. Here our beer prices are very low because we’ve got a good relationship with the suppliers, but other places can’t compete. If the beer prices were brought down I think you’d get a lot more custom in public houses, which would generate more jobs.

We’ve struggled with the increasing national living wage. I know people have to live, but at the same time small businesses, because we’ve only got a certain amount of money we can use for wages, will employ fewer staff and put the beer up to compensate.